TOKYO: Where to Find the World of Miyazaki's Spirited Away at the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Museum

TOKYO: Where to Find the World of Miyazaki's Spirited Away
at the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Museum

There are several places claiming to be the setting of Hayao Miyazaki's famous film Spirited Away. One of them is Jiufen in Taipei. But an interview with Hayao Miyazaki in May 2001 by Animage, a Japanese anime and entertainment magazine, finally confirmed from his own words that the world he sought to recreate in Spirited Away was a world depicted at the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Museum.

 The transcript of the interview is shown below:

(full text at An Interview with Hayao Miyazaki Animage, May 2001 Translated to English by Ryoko Toyama Edited by Team Ghiblink)

Why did you set the story in the present time?

 M: It's a world like this Edo Tokyo Tatemonoen (Edo Tokyo Museum, Building Park*) rather than our modern world. I've always been interested in the pseudo-Western-style buildings** you can find here. I feel nostalgic here, especially when I stand here alone in the evening, near closing time, and the sun is setting--tears well up in my eyes. (laughs)

 *Edo Tokyo Tatemonoen: A park with Japanese houses and shops from the Meiji and Taisho era (about 120 to 70 years ago). Miyazaki-San loves the park and often visits there. The interview took place in the park.

 **Pseudo-Western style - A style of Japanese architecture in the early Meiji era. It's a mixture of traditional Japanese design and Western design.

 I think we have forgotten the life, the buildings, and the streets we used to have not so long ago. I feel that we weren't so weak...for example, a life in that house you see there (pointing at one of the buildings in the park) was a modest one. They ate a small amount of food, enough to fit on a small table in a tiny room. Everyone thinks our problems today are the big problems we have for the first time in the world. But I think we just aren't used to them, what with the recession and all. Well, it's enough since everyone is talking about these current problems. Rather, let's cheer up (laughs). I'm making a film with such a feeling.

WHERE TO FIND THE WORLD OF SPIRITED AWAY 
AT THE EDO-TOKYO OPEN AIR MUSEUM

Below is the Layout of the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Museum:

This is the layout of the Edo Tokyo Open Air Museum.

You can find it in the link below.

https://www.tatemonoen.jp/english/restore/intro/

The areas I encircled are the areas/buildings that inspired the buildings in Spirited Away.

Make sure to click the photo to get the full view.

To follow the story of Spirited Away, you only need to visit the East Zone and the Center Zone:

East Zone

E3. Bar Kagiya (information) (virtual tour)

Bar Kagiya is the inspiration for the restaurant in this scene:

This is Bar Kagiya at the Museum

E6. Stationery store (information) (virtual tour)

The stationery store is the inspiration for workplace of Kamaji, the boiler-man:

This is inside of the stationery store at the Museum

E4. Public Bathhouse (information) (virtual tour)

The public bathhouse is the inspiration for this scene:

The front of the Public Bathhouse in the Museum

Inside the Bathhouse

Inside the Bathhouse at the Museum

Center Zone

C3. House of Korekiyo Takahashi (information) (virtual tour)

The House of Korekiyo Takahashi is the inspiration for this scene:

The House of Korekiyo Takahashi at the Museum

Check out the windows similar to the one in the film.

Outdoor exhibit

City train model 7500

Inside the train

IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO DO THE TOUR ON YOUR OWN:

A GUIDED TOUR THAT INCLUDES BOTH GHIBLI MUSEUM AND EDO TOKYO OPEN AIR MUSEUM IS AVAILABLE HERE

TOKYO: Inside Ghibli Museum

TOKYO: Inside Ghibli Museum

Photos and videos are not allowed inside the Ghibli Museum. So this is the most I can share with you just to give you an idea what to expect when visiting the Ghibli Museum.

This is the brochure that was given to us to guide us on how to navigate the museum. We entered basement 1 and navigated our way up.

My tips:

1. How to get tickets online

Ghibli Museum tickets are very hard to get. When ticket sales open, all slots for the month are usually sold out within the hour. 

So check out my post on MY TIPS ON HOW TO GET GHIBLI MUSEUM TICKETS ONLINE. I was able to get all 6 tickets that I applied for and on the time slot I wanted.

2. How much time to give explore the museum.

We spent 3 hours leisurely exploring the whole museum. So I think the 2:00 pm time slot should be the latest time slot you should get. There is no time limit to your visit. You can stay until the 6:00 pm closing time.

3. How to get there

It's actually very easy to get to Ghibli Museum. You just alight from Mitaka Station, then ride the Ghibli bus. You can get the ticket from a vending machine in front of the bus stop. The bus arrives every 20 minutes. There's a sign in the bus that announces the stop in both English and Japanese so you won't get lost.

4. Where to eat

We arrived at the museum lunchtime but we couldn't enter since our slot is at 2:00 pm. We found a Lawson store across the museum and bought our lunch there. The museum is within Inokashira park so we found benches to sit on where we can have lunch while waiting for our time to enter the museum.

5. Suggested itinerary

I chose the 2:00 pm slot so we can make a quick stop in the morning at the Edo Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum to view the places and structures that inspired Miyazaki's Spirited Away, especially the bath house. We visited only the central and eastern portion and skipped the western portion.

Suggested itinerary: 

9:00 am-12:00 pm Edo Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum

2:00 pm - 5:00 pm Ghibli Museum

BECAUSE OF THE COVID 19 LOCKDOWN, GHIBLI RELEASED A VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE GHIBLI Museum at https://mymodernmet.com/ghibli-museum-virtual-tour/